The Kage Shinobi
by Isilithix
Summary: Just as it would seem that Naruto would pass the genin exam at the age of eleven, something puts a stop to that plan. Naruto is all but abandoned by his friends and becomes cold and distant. No yaoi, no pairings as of yet. T for may turn M soon.
1. Chapter 1

The Kage Shinobi

* * *

Uzumaki Naruto, a child at the ripe old age of ten, stood in front of his Sensei as he waited for the first command to be delegated to him. 

"Alright Naruto, please **Henge** into a fellow classmate." Iruka said as Naruto nodded.

"Alright here it come!" the blonde child said as he started gathering chakra for the jutsu. **"HENGE!"** he said as smoke poured from his form and covered him in a blanket. As the smoke left the boy, a new form was in his place, the form of Nara Shikamaru; Naruto's long time copy buddy.

"Very good Naruto, now lets opt for **Kawarimi**." He said as Naruto nodded and started the jutsu, and soon there after changed places with a chair. "Very good Naruto!" Iruka said as Naruto 'whooped' for joy. "Now for the last one, **Bunshin**."

"Alright, one more and I will be a ninja!" Naruto said as he looked at Iruka who had a smile on his face. "I'll make so many Bunshin that I will have an army of ramen eating warriors!" Naruto said as Iruka laughed.

"Ha-ha, Naruto you only need to make three Bunshin." He said as Naruto disregarded the information given to him.

The chakra swelled around Naruto as he started channeling what he thought to be the correct amount of chakra for the jutsu and let it loose. **"Bunshin no Jutsu!"**

For a moment there was nothing, not even a cricket chirping from outside the room and then there was one and only one poof. As the smoke dispersed, the glimpse of a half dead clone sat on the floor.

"I am sorry Naruto, but you fail." Iruka said with a frown. Naruto looked at his creation and then cancelled it; he then looked at the ground and waited to be reprimanded as he always was after he failed something. "Naruto how many times a week do you try Bunshin?" Iruka asked.

"None really, I was practicing my Henge and Kawarimi mostly." Naruto admitted.

"From what I have seen here, if you just learn how to manipulate your chakra better, and then start practicing your jutsus and I mean all of them; then maybe next year you could be a genin." Iruka said as Naruto looked at him questioningly.

"How? No one will help me with my chakra control." Naruto said as Iruka felt a little guilty; Naruto was right, no one wanted to take the time to train the boy, he was a magnet for trouble and some people thought that he was just down right evil.

"Next year we will begin a new way of training in chakra control Naruto, but until then just keep practicing with the leaf method and then practice your other jutsus and you will be ready for next year." Iruka said as Naruto nodded and left the room.

--

And that is what Naruto did for the summer break, he practiced almost everyday from morning until noon with chakra control and then started with Bunshin until he was able to produce one whole clone and then went and practiced with Henge and Kawarimi. But not all of his summer vacation was spent on these four things alone, one night walking home from Ichiraku's ramen shop, he was almost the target for a murder; although he made it into his apartment, the old man who lived right across the way was found the next morning with a kunai in his stomach and his apartment ransacked.

That was Naruto's wake up call to begin learning how to be a real ninja by learning stealthy ways of moving around town. From hiding in alleys at select points to sneaking up behind genin who were boasting about being strong and smart, and masters of stealth. Five times out of nine were successful when he did that test, the other four he spent the next few days making sure he hadn't broken any bones.

By the end of summer, Naruto had made two full clones that stayed until he either dismissed them or until five minutes were up and then they left in a cloud of smoke; something that he would have to change in the future surely.

Since the summer began, Naruto had been getting up whenever he wasn't worrying about bones and chakra depletion; at five and out the door by six A.M. but since the academy was starting up again, he dropped his routine so he could sleep in just a bit longer, to gain that last minute or two of sweet joy that was sleep.

As Naruto rose from bed he licked his lips and yawned; he swung his legs over the edge of his bed and got out and started his morning routine, which consisted of a shower, bathroom break and then food. He then grabbed his books and left for the academy with a smirk on his face.

--

Nara Shikamaru was walking slowly to his seat as he thought about how much the academy was a drag. He sat down in his seat, and anyone could tell which one his was due to the discolored wood where his head used to lay during class; the discoloration was due to the amount of drool he unleashed on the wooden decoration.

He looked around to see who was in this class; surely Ino and Sakura would be here trying to gain Sasuke's non existing love, and would be yelling at each other almost as soon as they walked in the room. Hinata was already in her seat as was Shino; they both had clans honor to uphold and they were expected to be on time.

Sasuke was sitting in a different seat this year, on the end of the row, the first one to be exact and next to the window; Shikamaru figured out that it had to be for an easy escape route; sometimes he did feel sorry for the brooder, fan girls were hell to deal with. Chouji was just walking into the room and went straight for Naruto's old desk which was on the right of himself, for easy cheating; Naruto had figured that out last year about halfway through the year, and it was obvious that Chouji didn't like to take tests either.

Kiba would sit next to Naruto and cheat of him for sure, it was a regular copy line in the back rows, although sometimes Iruka would catch them and then they would fail it didn't matter to them, tests were dumb. Speaking of Naruto, Shikamaru wondered where he had been this summer, sure his mother didn't like him but that never stopped him before; he would just hang out with him and Chouji when his mom wasn't breathing down his neck.

The door opened to show the two banes of his existence, or at the moment they were anyways, Ino and Sakura had just tried to walk into the room at the same time, again; the two did this every other day, one would think that they would remember two days into the past right? Shikamaru settled down for another boring and dull year at Konoha's Shinobi Academy.

"Get out of my way Ino-Pig!" Sakura said as she bumped Ino into the door frame as to try to escape the door frame and attack Sasuke; but unfortunately she was knocked back as Ino shoved her into the door frames other side.

"No way Forehead-girl!" Ino spat back as they started wiggling against each other and the door frame to get free. After a few minutes of yelling at each other; they eventually got loose and instantly ran like they had fire at their heels towards Sasuke who looked like he wanted to kill himself.

_'Can't those two leave me alone for at least one day?'_ said boy thought as he tried to prepare himself for the onslaught of prompts and prodding for a date. Sometimes he wondered why he even tried, they always did this, and everyday he felt like pulling an Itachi on them.

The door opened again to reveal a fully prepared blonde boy with a smirk on his face. Naruto started towards Shikamaru and glared at Chouji. _'Just because I am going to listen to keen parts of Iruka's boring speeches this year, doesn't mean that I want to take the tests without…uh, knowing if my answers are correct!'_ he thought as he took the other seat and nudged Shikamaru who had fallen asleep already.

"Wha? Naruto, why did you wake me?" the lazy genius asked as he looked at the books in the friends hands. "What's with the books?" he asked as Chouji and Kiba looked at him weirdly.

"Well I took the genin exam last year to see if I could pass the test." Naruto started as the other three listened. "And I failed…so I asked Iruka-Sensei what I needed to do to become better and he told me some things on how to do so." He said as Chouji Shikamaru nodded.

"So what's with the books?' Kiba asked.

"I wanted to listen to the speeches this year I guess?" Naruto said as Chouji almost had a heart attack.

"W-What?" he asked as he tried to regain his breathe.

"I felt the same way only a few weeks ago, and then as I was practicing and then I thought about what he told me; so I thought after that, that if I paid attention this year that maybe I could gain more ways to strengthen myself." Naruto said as Kiba snorted.

"So then you'll become another Sakura then?" he asked as Naruto glared at him.

"Don't make fun of Sakura-Chan!" Naruto shot back as said girl turned and glared at him.

"Then if you become smarter than me Naruto, when a test comes up can I cheat off of you?" Chouji asked as Shikamaru looked at Naruto.

"Heck no!" he said as the three backed a bit. "Just because I am going to be paying attention doesn't mean that I am going to do tests like any normal person!" Naruto said as Shikamaru opened his mouth.

"Then how will you pass?" he asked.

"That's where you come in!" Naruto said as Shikamaru sighed.

"All right class, that's enough talking; it is time to start furthering you in your Shinobi training. So the first thing we'll be doing is a test to see how much you remember from last year!" Iruka said as he walked to his desk never minding the groans of anger and hate.

"And this year, don't think about cheating either, I know about the cheat line in the back of the room and have asked Hokage-Sama for another Sensei to help me ALL YEAR!" he said as a new man entered the room.

"Hello, my name is Mizuki, and I am here to make sure that you, the next generation of Konoha shinobi will prepared for the ninja world." He said as the class nodded and said their hellos. _'And to make sure that you fail, Uzumaki Naruto!'_ he thought to himself as he passed out the test.

-

Half way through the test, and only four people were done, or semi done with it; Sakura, Shino, Sasuke and partially Shikamaru who had given up at the fifteenth question when it asked for the savior of the village. Naruto was about a quarter of the way through, and not even cheating off of Shikamaru either. In his own mind, Naruto was happy and ecstatic about it as well, when a hand came down and grabbed his test.

"Uzumaki Naruto, you fail this test!" Naruto looked up and saw the new teacher, Mizuki standing there with a frown on his face.

"What? WHY?" Naruto demanded from the teacher.

"For cheating!" was the reply as Naruto watched his test being ripped to shreds in front of him.

"Iruka-Sensei! Mizuki-Sensei ripped my test!" He said as Iruka looked up from his desk and glanced at the blonde.

"Well then you shouldn't have been cheating Naruto." He said as he went back to the papers on his desk.

"But I wasn't!" he said as more kids looked at him.

"One more word out of you Naruto and I will give you a detention." Mizuki said as he walked off.

"You can't do that!" Naruto said as Mizuki looked back at him.

"That is one detention Naruto." He then turned around and walked up to the front of the room and threw the pile of ripped test away.

"Then I'm not going!" Naruto said as Iruka stood up.

"Naruto, that is another detention for that check." He said as Naruto almost felt like screaming.

"For what?" he asked.

"For interrupting my class that's what!" Iruka said as his face started to become red.

"EEERRGGHH!" Naruto growled as Iruka nodded to Mizuki. Mizuki came up the stairs and grabbed Naruto by the collar of his jacket and took him from the classroom.

Once in the hallway Mizuki punched Naruto in the stomach and let him fall to the floor. "Since you don't want to serve your detentions, Iruka said for me to punish you right this moment!" a kick to Naruto's face stopped any interruptions from the fallen child.

For fifteen minutes, Naruto was beaten by Mizuki; punches and kicks lit his world into pretty multi-colored lights. Then he was dragged out of the building and into the back of the academy where he tied Naruto to a post and threw practice kunai at the tree, missing every tenth one or so and hitting him. Then after about ten hits, he was untied and given a bucket of water and ordered to wash the floor of the hallway; and if he didn't comply he was going to be punished again.

As the other students came out, they saw Naruto scrubbing the floor; he was also covered in many bruises. Iruka came out and saw Naruto in his condition and asked him what happened.

"I fell down the stairs." Naruto said as he could feel the triumph from a hidden Mizuki as Iruka nodded and left; Naruto still half a hallway to do.

_'My plan is underway, now that all I need to do is do this about twice a month and then rip his homework, and he is as good as gone!'_ Mizuki thought as he watched Naruto scrub the floor.

--

The end of the academic year

--

"Naruto I am sorry, but you just don't have the academic scores to take the test this year." Iruka said as Mizuki, who had stopped torturing him two months ago nodded with a mask of fake concern.

"I understand Iruka-Sensei." Naruto said as he walked back from the desk and out the door.

"_Sigh-_ Mizuki, I don't understand that boy, last year he had a better attitude towards school and made it to take the test; but this year is like he just completely stopped trying to conceal his efforts for cheating and stopped caring completely." Iruka said as Mizuki nodded.

"I believe that his so called friends have something to do with this." Mizuki said as Iruka looked at him strangely. "Last month Shikamaru's mother found Naruto playing shogi with him and threatened him severely; and then two days later Chouji stopped talking to him as well."

Even if he had tried to set this up between the parents of those two boys, he wouldn't have made it so convincing, this event happened completely on its own. Naruto was playing shogi with Shikamaru and Yoshino found out about it and put a stop to it. She then told Chouji's mother about the event and told her that Chouji was in on it too. The next day they told Naruto that he had to stop hanging with them and talking to them even in the academy or they all would be in trouble.

Unfortunately for Naruto, he accidentally stumbled upon them playing shogi at the same time that their mothers had stepped out of the forest near the park and saw him and verbally scolded both Shikamaru and Chouji and then threatened Naruto. And if that wasn't the worst thing, both boys started to throw stuff at him in anger the next day at the park as he walked home from the academy.

"So that's it huh?" Iruka asked as Mizuki nodded. "Well, then I hope that next year he doesn't try the same stuff as he did this year, or he won't ever become a ninja." Iruka said as he got up and left the room.

"Who said that he'd be here after today anyways?" Mizuki asked himself as he left the room. "Tonight is the last night Uzumaki Naruto will be alive!" he said as he left to put his plan together; steal a scroll from the lazy guard in the Hokage Tower and then find Naruto. Knock the brat out and bring him to the shack in the forest; leave the scroll with him and hide. The Anbu would show up and then Naruto would be gone. "Perfect!" he said as he jumped off to begin.

END

* * *

I will be working on _COTTJ II_ and _JR_ this week, _JR_ should get done, and then _COTTJ II_ will be next. Then _NTSS_ will be under the pen, and then _BK_. Underground is going to take some time so if you like it, be patient. 


	2. Chapter 2

The Kage Shinobi

* * *

Mizuki slowly reached the tower where he would take one of the scrolls and then leave to kidnap Naruto; and like all evenings and nights in Konoha, there were hardly any guards on duty, a preverbal piece of cake. He placed some charka in his feet and slowly and carefully began to trek up the wall nearest the vault room window, why the builders had placed a window in that room Mizuki would never find out. As he came to the third floor window a unit of guards walked by making Mizuki stall his movements and curse mentally. 

Again this happened on the sixth floor, but this was to be expected, the vault was only the next floor up and this floor housed the Hokage's office. He waited for the guards to pass by and then without looking or listening for more guards, made his way up to the next window. He slowly and carefully opened the window, but this wasn't a challenge, the lock was on the outside of the window, not the inside like many he had seen before! He undid the lock and pushed the window up, as soon as he could fit in the gap in the wall, he pushed his way through.

He slowly let the window down and started to look for a good scroll to steal for his trap, the Sacred Scroll? No way, too risky, he may have wanted to have the little monster killed, but he didn't want to make the scene to unreal, what genin wannabe would have heard about the Sacred Scroll anyways, it was a double S-Class secret punishable by instant death even to talk about it. It was the only law that surpassed the law about the Kyuubi inside Naruto.

Scroll of Flames, no, there was a rumor about the last person who tried to open that scroll, the man burst into flames right before his teammates eyes. Scroll of False Hope? Nope, there was no way in hell he would even touch that one, he might not have heard anything about it but it just sounded like death in a glistening wrapped present. Finally the last one, the Scroll of the Kage? That sounded like something that brat might take for his trap; it was the perfect little trap for him, he wanted power, he'd get power and then a one way trip to death!

Mizuki grabbed the scroll and went towards the window; he pushed up but found that it wouldn't open. He pushed up again, but again it wouldn't budge! He pushed again and for a third time, it didn't as much as shudder. He finally became desperate and channeled some chakra into his left hand and punched it and watched as the window broke into hundreds of pieces. He quickly swooped his hand around the outside of the window and unlocked it and brought his arm back in and pushed up on the window, enabling it to move just enough for him to get back out and into the dusky night.

--

Naruto sat in his apartment and stared at the floor, this year had so much riding on it and now it was driven into the ground like a stake. He lost more than the chance to become a ninja and set on missions, he lost the two people he considered to be his only two friends. If only that day hadn't happened at all, then those two would still be his friends, right?

"No…" Naruto breathed to himself as he held his face in his left hand and looked at his right one. "They meant that weren't my friends by their actions, they meant every word." He said as he remembered the fight he had with them.

-Flashback-

_Naruto had been walking off his frustration by taking a walk in the park, unfortunately he saw Shikamaru's mother and turned into the woods. He walked for about ten minutes and then turned around and walked towards his house. Fate seemed to hate him because he pushed through a shrub at the same time he saw Chouji and Shikamaru' mothers coming from the other direction, he hadn't even known that Chouji and Shikamaru were there. The next few moments flew by so fast that all Naruto remembered was he was verbally threatened and then chased off by the two women._

_The next day after the academy, Naruto had walked by the two of them on his normal route home; then the moments seemed to stop like water flow in winter._

"You asshole!" Chouji said as he picked himself of the ground as did Shikamaru did as well. "You did that shit yesterday on purpose!" he said as Naruto shook his head but it had no effect.

"Yeah my mother grounded me for a month with no shogi because you just couldn't stay away from us!" Shikamaru said as Naruto opened his own mouth.

"I didn't even no you were there, honest!" he said as a rock hit his shoulder.

"You! Honest! Hah, that's like Kiba taking a bath!" Chouji said as he hurled a rock at him and hit his face. "My mom was right, you are a monster, breaking a good friendship just because you're even near us!" he said as Shikamaru nodded.

"You know what Naruto, I think that you should leave us all alone, not just Chouji and myself, I mean everyone in class, Kami knows that we need a bunch of monster like you in it!" he said as he threw a rock at Naruto, hitting him in the eye.

"I didn't- I would never-" Naruto was cut off as a small barrage of rocks flew at him, many of them hitting him, making a waterfall of blood fall from his face and shoulders.

"Just leave us the hell alone!" They both said as Naruto turned around and walked away.

-End Flashback-

"You guys were right, monsters do break friendships, but I am not that monster; you two are, along with your ugly parents!" Naruto seethed as he looked at himself in the mirror. "But if you agree with them, then I will show you two…no, no; all of you how much of a monster I can be!" he said as he picked up his chair and hurled it at his bathroom making a loud crashing sound as his mirror broke. "Today is the last day that Uzumaki Naruto is alive!" he said as he started to laugh manically.

"Oh you have no idea how true that is boy!" a cold voice said as Naruto turned around and saw only a fist connecting to his face, knocking him out cold. Naruto fell into the attacker's arms before he could hit the ground.

"Never would I have thought that it would be this easy!" the attacker said as he quickly tied Naruto up and jumped out the window and on to a roof of one of the many buildings around the apartment complex, and then jumped off again; this time heading towards the empty shack in the middle of the forest.

--

_"Wake up Naru…wake up you un…ful…de…child!"_ these words kept barraging Naruto's ear as he struggled to regain his consciousness, finally he felt a sharp pain in his stomach and his eyes flew open.

"Finally, you little demon…" a masked man said as Naruto looked at his attacker. "Don't think you can run brat, I have you tag all over with explosive notes, and I am willing to kill you myself!" the man said as Naruto looked at his person and saw that like the man had just said, he was indeed covered in explosive notes.

"What the hell do you want with me?" Naruto asked as a light smack as heard as the man playfully smack his cheek.

"Just a game…a very dangerous game!" the man said as he dropped the scroll and jumped off into the trees, to make sure that the Anbu where coming…after he told the Hokage that is; so what if the brat got that scroll open, he was going to die soon anyways.

Naruto slowly looked at the scroll and then to the sky before shaking his head. "He doesn't have anyone else here to look out for me…even if I am covered in these Kami forsaken notes, that don't mean that I can't run for it!" Naruto said as he picked up the scroll and ran off; only to be pulled back as a chakra rope appeared around his neck.

"Or maybe not." He said as he looked at the scroll. "'Scroll of the Kage' huh?" Naruto asked out loud. "Scrolls have seals on them to keep intruders out, but this one might not…or it might, I need to think fast on this." He said as he looked around him. "If I can get that ugly son of a bitch to open it for me, I can see if it has a seal on it or not, but to do that I need to seem like I am missing and the scroll open…" Naruto said as he looked through his pockets. He pulled out a piece of paper and a small knife that he had been bringing to school as of late to make sure that if Mizuki-Teme attacked him again, he could do some damage, but alas, as he started to bring it, the bastard stopped attacking him.

He quickly laid the scroll out in a manner and licked the end of the paper and stuck on the scroll, he then used some sap that was lingering on one of the many trees around him to glue it to the scroll's pull flap, he started to blow on the sap to make it dry as he hopped that the attacker in the mask didn't arrive to soon; if the man came back too soon…well then his plan wouldn't have been for shit.

After he felt the sapped areas of the scroll and paper, Naruto left on the ground and then made his way behind the shack and let the chakra rope disappear, he thought that it was visible all the time, but when he turned around he saw that it only appeared when he moved around. _'Even if this hadn't happened; and I had friends, I would still be a trap enthusiast!'_ Naruto thought as he waited for the stupid man to come back.

He didn't have to wait much longer, because within minutes the man came back to see Naruto had some how run off and the scroll, lying on the ground 'opened'. He picked the scroll up and decided if that brat could open the scroll, then why shouldn't he? _'The brat must have killed by the seal savor on this scroll.'_ The man thought as Naruto watched from his hiding spot as the man tried to open the scroll.

"This thing must be sticky or something!" he said as he yanked down the corner of the scroll. Nothing had happened!

_'I can't believe I did that!'_ Naruto hissed at himself as he watched the man open the rest of the scroll only to see something that, if he himself hadn't seen, he wouldn't believe, a fist of dark energy sprang out of the scroll hitting the man in the face and sending him backwards into a tree. As he dropped the scroll, Naruto ran out of his hiding spot and tried to get to the scroll as he felt a kick hit him in the side.

He looked at the masked man who had hit the tree and now saw only a wet spot on the ground. _'What?'_ Naruto thought as he found himself being kicked to the side of the shack as the masked man chuckled.

"That was very smart for a brat your age…oops I keep mistaking you for a human, sorry!" the man said as he pulled off his mask and kicked Naruto again. "Now Naruto, do you think you can remember who I am?" the man asked as Naruto turned over and stared at the man with blurred vision.

"M-M-Mizuki…" He gasped as he felt his lungs exhausting their air supply.

"That's right. It is me, Mizuki." He said as he picked Naruto up by the jacket collar. "And do you know why I brought you here?" he asked as Naruto shook his head. He may not have known exactly _why_ he brought him here, but he had a hunch as to what he was trying to do to him.

"I am trying to end a scourge that will surely end Konoha if it allows you to live." He said as Naruto blinked at the man. "That's right you have no clue as to WHAT I am talking about do you?" he asked Naruto as the boy spat at him, earning him a swift punch to the stomach. "That wasn't a very smart thing to do Naruto…or should I say…"

END

* * *

It is going to take me a little while longer for both _JORN_ and _COTTJ II_ to be uploaded, I haven't had much time to use the computer this week, this chapter was actually finished almost the same day the first one was finished so… I decided to finish it. The next chapter is done as well, but your going to have to wait for that one, I have some…revising to do. 

Thanks to all that reviewed and read it!


	3. Chapter 3

The Kage Shinobi

* * *

"Kyuubi!" Mizuki said as Naruto felt his eyes open fully, he really should have seen it coming. The beat downs, the anger on his birthday, the reason he was never able to have a truly peaceful day without someone wrecking it…these were the things that should have told him that he was something more than what he gave himself credit for…and in the least, if he made it out of this mess, he would be a monster. 

"What do you have to say for yourself demon?" Mizuki asked as Naruto could only think.

_'What the hell? Why can't I move my mouth, make noise or even breathe properly?'_ Naruto asked himself as he tried to move. _'If I am to become a monster, I need to be stronger than this!'_ he told himself as he started to feel feelings in his lips, as if they were un-numbing themselves. "Go piss in a cup and choke while drinking it!" Naruto said as he saw the man's eyes open as his mouth shut before curling into a scowl.

Mizuki let a sharp punch to the face and then watch the boy fall to the ground; then he picked Naruto up by the back of his head, yanking his hair out as he did so, and slammed the boy into his knee and then let the boy's head fall off his knee and onto his foot, where he then bashed it as he Naruto's cry of pain reach his ears.

"You should really learn to treat your betters well…better than that Naruto…I heard that some people will KILL YOU FOR SHIT LIKE THAT!" he yelled as he prepared to smash Naruto into the ground with his foot, when a kunai struck him in the back of the leg. "AARRGGHH!" he seethed loudly as he turned around to see Iruka standing behind him with a kunai raised to defend him.

"You leave him alone!" Iruka said as Mizuki laughed.

"HAHAHA! Iruka you know that a kunai to the legs won't kill anyone…are you really here to kill me or just stop me?" The crazed ninja asked as he held his hands up and started to speak when he felt another kunai hit his left shoulder, dropping his left arm almost as quickly as it came up. "Damn it Iruka! You know as much as I do that if he lives we will ALL DIE!"

"And if that is the way the Kami' want it to be, then let it happen. But for now he is a student in my class, and more importantly a citizen of Konoha, and that can't be over looked!" the academy sensei said as he dropped into a stance and started to prepare himself mentally for the fight that was to begin. After a quick moment, he started out by chucking three weapons at Mizuki, a kunai and two shuriken. The kunai and one shuriken whizzed by the mad man as the other spinning weapon sunk into his left arm, making it useless. As Iruka started to move forward, Mizuki fell to his knees as a blonde figure was revealed with a knife in his hand, which was currently in Mizuki's back.

"N-Naruto!" Iruka said as he ran towards the boy, who held up a hand but soon fell to the ground, both tired and winded. Iruka ran too him just as the Anbu showed up to take Mizuki and Naruto to the hospital. No one seemed to notice that the scroll that was on the ground only moments ago was no longer there.

--

_'Where am I?'_ Naruto asked mentally as he awoke to find a blurry white ceiling. _'Why the heck did I ask my self that? I already knew where I was in the first place!'_ he chided himself as he looked around to regain his vision so it would be easier to see people.

"Well good afternoon Naruto…I see that you have healed since you fought Mizuki two nights ago." An old voice said as Naruto instantly knew who this person was.

"Jiji, I am not a thief!" Naruto said as he looked at his hands.

"I know this…well except ramen and homework!" the man said with humor.

"That was last, no, two years ago, not now." He said as he fumbled his fingers. "I really don't have any friends to copy off of anymore." He said quietly as Sarutobi nodded.

"You know Naruto; I heard about what happened from a passing guard a while ago, and I asked to speak with those two boys. Do you want to know what they said?" he asked as Naruto slowly nodded. "They said that they didn't mean to go so far; they were upset at the fact that they were grounded for mistake and then punished later, they never did say what though." He said as Naruto scoffed, surprising the man.

"They sure acted like they meant it. They called me a monster Jiji, I don't like that." Naruto said as he looked at the man.

"They said they didn't mean it Naruto, and for what it is worth there are four people who think that you aren't a monster either." The old man said with a small smile.

"I already know I am not a monster, or the Kyuubi." He said as Sarutobi smiled. "I tried to be a monster Jiji, and I failed…because monsters don't hesitate; and I did." He said as the smile fell from the old man's face. "Jiji…I don't want to be a monster to these people…they fear and hate me." He said as Sarutobi nodded and sighed.

"Well then show them that your not." He said as Naruto nodded slowly. After a few seconds Naruto took a breath as he looked at the man.

"Then I will show them." He said as the smile replaced it's self. "By making them fear me…but not by killing or demanding monstrous things like sacrifices…I will become the thing they fear the most…" the smile fell quiet a bit as Sarutobi started to say something but found that he didn't have the chance as Naruto spoke again. "By becoming a shadow!" Naruto said as he took the time to look for the scroll.

After a few moments, Sarutobi, after a hard battle of wits, decided to say the thing he was going to tell Naruto all along. "Well if that is what you want Naruto…then here," he said as he held out the scroll. "You can have it…it will cause some turmoil amongst the council members later on in life; but it is time to show the world that the shadows are no longer safe from a shinobi!" he said as he looked toward the window in the room.

"You know that I might leave after I become a chunin right?" Naruto asked as the man nodded. "Then why?"

"You need a way to protect yourself from the outside world that you have been shunned from Naruto…this will help you in the long run." He said as Naruto nodded. "And I already knew from the time you were four that you were going to leave…you said that to me when you turned five…but to do that you need to pass the next genin exam…and to do that is pass the Bunshin part of the exam." He said as he handed a small piece of paper to Naruto. "From your mother…she wanted the scroll of her family to be handed to you when you were six but someone lit a fire in my office when you were sleeping in there when you were a baby and the scroll caught flame…that is all that is left of it, and I have been keeping it safe for you." He said as he opened the door and left.

"My…mother's?" Naruto asked as he opened it to find…

END

* * *

So until further notice I will be only working on this, _JORN,_ and _COTTJ II_. _JORN_ is half way between a fight and another fight…or other words, about a quarter finished, like I said it will be long. 

_COTTJ_ will be done when I can get it done. I do work on it every time an idea for it pops into my cranium so don't worry.

**Boejangles:** Chouji and Shikamaru were doing something that all kids do when they have been punished for something they didn't do, and yes stones and names are thrown; I did it when I was younger…although that involved a snowball with an icicle in it…thrown at the eyeball but that doesn't matter now.

**Kyuubi-Sama:** No, I have stated before that I won't write a Naru/Hina ever mainly because I don't like the pairing. I rarely read them, they have to have a good PLOT line and not just the over done and phased into my memory of _'Save me Naruto!'_ and _"Hinata!'_ which usually involves lemons that deal with nothing other than the fact that Naruto saved her from a low level ninja, even though she is a jonin, and her saving his ass from the Akatsuki with no effort what so ever.

I am not saying that you have to hate the pairing, but all of the ones I read when I began the Fan Fiction stuff were like this, or mostly. So sorry no Naru/Hina.

**Kyunaru:** Well it is labeled 'Suspense' for a reason.

**Demonkid:** This is a warning; Naruto **didn't** kill Mizuki…yet. I want him to be utterly humiliated when it happens, so what is a better way then to do it later in the era when Mizuki thinks he is big and bad?

Again thanks to those who reviewed and more importantly, read this fic!


	4. Chapter 4

The Kage Shinobi

* * *

Naruto staggered along his way home, trying to hide his new scroll and his mother's only last piece of information for him. Most people would turn away from him when he staggered, this usually meant that he came from the hospital, and that meant that there was at least one Anbu member following him to make sure that no one was going to attack him while he was weak. 

Naruto of course had no knowledge of these people nor did he care unless they knew what he had in his possession at the moment; all he cared about was getting home and fast, he wanted to place these two objects of power in a safe location and then go to sleep for the time being, that was all he needed and then of course check himself for any missed explosive tags, which for some reason in their fight, Mizuki forgot he placed them on his person; really retarded.

As he made foot fall upon his apartment step the Anbu stopped tailing him and set up a small perimeter, they only waited for about a half hour before leaving but it was a boring part of their job when it came to the young Jinchuriki.

He went into his house and started to take of his clothes at the door, after shutting it of course; then made his way towards his room, where no one looked under his bed, and even if they would they wouldn't find anything, because they'd be under the floor boards and covered by paper, the paper he placed their to stop letting cold air into his room. Then he made his way towards the bathroom, where he checked himself for tags, not finding any, he went to bed and laid down, looking at the ceiling for a moment before shutting his eyes, lolling off into a sleep that wasn't light nor deep.

--

Waking to the scene of darkness, Naruto got up and fixed himself some ramen, not too much mind you, but still two bowls of the stuff that had been his lifesaver in the past. Thinking about his new scroll and what wonderful techniques might be in it didn't help Naruto to eat slowly either, he slurped it down within moments of placing it in a bowl. As he finished, he drew some water from the tap and soaked the bowl and the pot and went towards his scroll. He took the panel of wood of the floor and took the paper out of the hole and grasped the scroll and took it out, he also took the small piece of scroll his Mother left him and decided that until he found a different place to hide it he would place it in the scroll.

He opened the flap on the scroll, hoping that every time it was reopened that it didn't send a shady fist to greet the person who opened it. Unfortunately it did; and it sent Naruto into his table, breaking it. He looked back at the scroll and glared at it. The seal, now broken, he got up and went towards it. He picked it up and hoped that it didn't contain anymore traps; that punch hurt!

He looked it over, well the tab that contained the sealant and then pulled it back, closing one eye and half cocking the other as he pulled. Nothing happened. He opened his eyes fully and blink-blinked, then he looked at the list of jutsu he now had to choose from, he would learn them all, but for right now…only a few.

He frowned. He didn't have a list to choose from, he had two, two jutsu and that was all. He sighed, he thought that there would be more than two jutsu, but then again he could have had none; so in a way this was better than nothing.

"**Kage no Tanpa** and **Kage no Yaiba**." Naruto said out loud as he looked over the two jutsu, they had a very small description of what they did and that was that.

"Lets see, the **Kage no Tanpa** is a short range jutsu, about three to four feet away from target. Sends waves of energy on top of the ground knocking opponents down and keeping them down for a very short time.

"And the **Kage no Yaiba** is a short almost dagger sized blade of dark energy, it makes a very low hum and can cut through wood. Lasts anywhere between 10 and 15 seconds before it dissipates." Naruto read as he thought.

"Both jutsus would be helpful, although I am just guessing that Kage no Tanpa would be a little easier although louder than Kage no Yaiba, but said jutsu would take longer to learn than Kage no Tanpa…What to learn first!" he wondered out loud as he noticed the sun coming up, he glanced at the clock and spotted the time switching from 5:29 A.M. to 5:30 A.M.

"I wonder if I should go to school this year or just train?" he wondered again. "But if I go to school not only will I have less time to train, I will have to explain why I have started to change in not only attitude but also appearance, a shadow can't be a shadow with bright orange clothes." He wondered. Since it was now morning he would go and try to find Iruka-Sensei he wanted to know just what they were going to do this year. If it was the same old he wouldn't be back until graduation, however if they were going to learn new things he would be back, and just hold off on appearances until later on down the road.

But if they were going to be reviewing and learning new stuff along the way, could he just walk in all willy-nilly and leave when he wanted? He probably wouldn't be able to. So he would spend the first few hours this morning trying to find Iruka, so that he may ask his questions.

-

Two hours later

-

Iruka was going over the list of things that he needed to teach this years' genin applicants, when a sound someone knocking on his door snapped him out of his thinking trance and rose to answer the door. He opened the door slowly with a sigh; he would never be able to get this stuff done if he had someone like Anko show up on his door step asking for booze again.

He opened the door to see Naruto standing in the hall way. He opened the door fully and smiled at the boy, and then said; "Hello Naruto, how are today?"

"Okay…tell me Iruka-Sensei, if you had a way to become stronger would you take it?" he asked as Iruka nodded him in and then shut the door.

"Is this about two nights ago?" he asked as Naruto thought about it. He couldn't just say, _'No, I want to become stronger so that I can leave the village later in life, and never see any of the losers here who abused me for so long'_ now could he?

"Uh…Yes." He said looking down towards the ground.

"Well…since you know about the…well you know, and you know that people might still come after you, I'd usually say no, but since these reasons are more dangerous if you don't I'd say yes. But Naruto, why ask me?" he asked as Naruto sighed.

He like Iruka, he was one of the nice ones in his life, the person who encouraged him to become stronger; this might hurt him a little.

"Well, I found a scroll…a different one from the other night, Jiji took that one away, but I was wondering about this school year. See I did some calculations and I figured that even with my improved chakra control I would need almost eight months of training almost non-stop to learn the first three jutsu…and since I have no offensive jutsu…I kinda wanted to learn so that I may protect myself; but to do that I'd need to either come to class once in a while or none at all, but still be allowed to take the test." He lied, it would only take him at maximum five months to master these two jutsu to the point of not thinking about the little things like 'Can I make it in time?' but Iruka didn't need to know that.

"Well I have to say I am a little surprised that you figured that out there Naruto, but I am a little disappointed that it would take you that long to learn these three jutsu…but since you are a special cause I think we can work something out, I'll just have to talk with Hokage-Sama first but I think he'll understand." The chunin said as he messed up Naruto's already messed up hair. "So just come back in about a year Naruto and I think I have a headband with your name on it." He said with a smile as Naruto smiled genuinely.

"Thanks Iruka-Sensei!" he said as he hugged the man so he wouldn't think that anything else was wrong, and then left the apartment for training supplies.

-

One hour later, in front of a supply shop

-

Naruto looked in the shop window, hoping that the owner would civilized enough or long enough to let get what he needed, which was two separate chains with two large metal hooks or stakes. He would need these for another set of harder chakra training. He also needed some stakes that would either bend or fall down, that would mean having a small platform on the bottom so that they would fall when hit instead of broken.

Naruto went into the building and started to look around for the chains that he needed. He walked in to see no one behind the counter and no one in the shop, but thinking little of it he walked over to the chains, he needed them to be about ten to twelve feet in length and the spikes needed to be able to hook and stay in both wood and rock.

He would use them to become strong, fast and quiet, because for every time he heard a clink on the chain, he would do push ups for ten minutes, non slack. Of course this would be at the end of the day after training with his two new jutsu. He picked them, three sets of stakes, which meant nine stakes, and some spikes/stakes for his chains.

He walked towards the counter and looked at the man, who had just gotten there and placed his order on the counter, he sniffed at the blonde but rang it up anyways, he was going to overcharge but decided not to today, mainly because the boy had come in the same time a jonin did, and even though he wasn't the best one to be seen with, he was very strict when it came to the rules of anything.

He walked out with his purchase and walked towards his house, he needed to stock up on food. As he reached his house, he noticed that there was an envelope on the door, a non opened one. He took it in and threw it on the table, he then gathered what he needed and then walked out, leaving to begin his training.

-

Up in the Trees

-

A figure sat there waiting for the target to walk out of his house, he had taken the bait, now to see if he listened to what the letter said. As the boy walked out of sight, the figure jumped off into the distance.

-

With Naruto

-

Naruto reached his training ground, the way he had left it last time. He set his things on the ground and wasted no time in putting up his chains and stakes. He walked up a large tree and placed the chain so it was four feet above the ground. Then the second one two feet from the other one. Then he climbed down and walked over to his stakes, he made sure that the flat ends were attached and then placed them on the ground; he would mark out how far they were later, for now he needed to meditate.

-

With the Figure

-

"I thought you said that he was coming!" a man rasped out as a figure fell backwards, letting green hair fall out into the very little light that could be seen from the window.

"I thought that he read the note." A deep voice emitted from the fallen figure. "He left only moments after picking it up and going inside."

"I don't care if he read it or not! Just get him HERE SOON!" the raspy one yelled as the green haired figure stood, bowed, letting more green hair spill into view and then left. "Soon, we will rise, and crush these mortals who hide in the light!" the man rasped as he laughed a wheezy laugh.

--

Naruto's Training Ground – Next Week

--

Naruto allowed himself to smile. For the first time since he looked at the jutsu Kage no Tanpa, he had created a small wave along the ground. It was one small and slow wave, but it did something, it knocked down the closest stake; and that stake was well over a foot away, almost a foot and three-quarters. He soon stopped smiling and looked to the trees, where his most taxing in both time and chakra took place, the chains, so far, not even once, and that was along the trek down from the top chain had he been able to move without sound. He had done, already, four hours in pushups, he heard himself 24 times in the last week, well he didn't punish himself until three days ago but still, four hours of training wasted on his self punishment; maybe if he also did sit-ups and pull-ups would help him as well?

He prepared to jump and then grab hold of the chain and walk his way up when he thought he heard something in the distance, he stopped an looked around but found nothing but the forest. He turned and went back to his exercise.

From his location, about twenty or so yards away in the underbrush, a green haired figure watched and smiled. The figure prepared to move when the boy slipped and fell to the ground, landing on his rear. The figure would not allow for the boy to leave, not after what The Master said. As the figure began to move to intercept the boy from leaving, the boy started to curse himself and then started to count on his fingers, and then started to do push ups.

'_Damn! Another SIX hours down the fuckin' drain!'_ Naruto thought as he began.

'_Well at least he doesn't seem to be moving from this location, but still, a Kage Bunshin should suffice to watch him while I contact the Master.'_ The figure thought as a clone appeared silently and then took over as the original left.

-

With The Master

-

"He seems to be furthering himself in ours arts My Lord." The figure said with a deep voice.

"Well then, let him be until it is time. We will contact him later then, but for now, get that letter!" the old man said as he pointed towards a large black object which must have been a door as the figure nodded, bowed and left through it. "My, my, one week and already learning such a jutsu, the shadows will be in turmoil with this information!" the man rasped out with a laugh.

END

* * *

Yeah, long wait; I have been busy, again. This time I have a real reason or two; not that the others weren't real or nothing; I had a guy from DeVry come today to talk to me about college, I have been kind of anxious for a bit because of this. I have also been soooooo bored thanks to the fucking heat! My room is a sauna all year round, even in the winter! That's were I have been only because my two dogs have been fighting over who gets to sit next to me ON ME! It wouldn't be so bad if they didn't bite each other hard because they tend to bite me more often the each other… 

Anyways, I have been working on my two long awaited updates; I haven't found the proverbial _OOMPH!_ to play SW2 for a tick and I haven't been in the best of writing moods either.

On the other hand, I found $150 in my bathroom this week, strange and no it wasn't from anything naughty, I found it in a light bulb box.

Anyways, to real news, I have to re-think my zanpakuto idea for Naruto, I found out that the Bleach movie has the same damn thing I wanted for Naruto, and I like to be different! _JORN_ is in the beginning of re-revising; I think I fell asleep with my eyes open while writing in my insanely hot room because I woke up to find that my chapter had taken a turn for the weird. Seriously, I have no idea what my sub-consciences was thinking and I don't want to know.

Acidic Properties – Is a story about what happens when Naruto, who isn't allowed to enter the academy because he wasn't strong enough, not in chakra but in strength, pure and raw. He fights a Thing and loses, then the Thing gives him a cursed gift. How is it cursed you might ask? You will have to both read and wait for more, but I can tell you that it isn't that's right, **NOT** a crossover, or at least not that I know of.

That was incase you hadn't seen or read it yet, to those who reads this and any other of my stories…thanks! Remember, you don't have to review, as long as it is being read then I don't care how many reviews I get, so don't mind the joke at the end of _AP_ if you read it!


	5. Chapter 5

The Kage Shinobi

* * *

The days in Konoha were growing both shorter cooler, a sure fire sign of fall. The sky was a haze blue with gray pooling clouds in the distance signifying that a late fall storm was steadily approaching. However, people inside the grand village did not waver from the daily plans, most likely thinking that it would either dissipate or veer off before it reached them. 

One of these people however didn't, and was heading home, he just glad that with his new equipment he would be able to continue his workout rather than waste the rest of his wasting day. Coming from the Hokage's office in the Tower, Naruto didn't meet anyone's glares with either an old smile or a scowl of his own; his face was hard as stone. Remembering what the Sandiame said to him still threw him for a loop.

-

Flashback

-

Standing in the red carpeted office with old pieces of furniture and books galore, Naruto stood in front of the old ruler with mixed feelings. One was the fact that Naruto had finished his five month routine with Kage no Tanpa and Kage no Yaiba. The other thing was that he finished these and forgot that the Old Man had the damned Orb of Sight in his office that he used once or twice a week just to make sure he wasn't in trouble.

"Naruto, I am disappointed in you." He said with hard eyes. "You not only lied to me but to Iruka as well." He said as he took out a piece of paper and laid it on his desk. "This was what Iruka told me, to let you take the year off and train with _three_ jutsu that would take you eight months, but here it has been five and you've finished the _two_ you have taken from the Scroll of the Kage. Why did you lie?" he asked.

"I was going to train with three jutsu…my Mother's…but I haven't had the courage to look at the paper again…It is kind of funny that I'm not afraid to be punished by clan heads and the like but afraid of a piece of paper." He said with a frown.

"That's not what I am talking about Naruto, what I am talking about is why you lied." He said.

"Well if it was two jutsu…Iruka would have made me stay in the academy, I all ready know that they only teach them one or two new things, the rest is all review, in which I would have passed last year if it were not for Mizuki." Naruto stated.

"Naruto, if you do not fulfill your end of the bargain which is basically what you stated to Iruka, then I can not and will not pass you to the rank of genin." He said as he held out a headband. "And that means you will be a year behind your classmates or you will be barred from becoming a ninja in Konoha." Sarutobi said with a hard sigh.

"Well?" Naruto asked as he let his arms fly into the air briefly. "I don't know any other jutsu to train in, I'd look at the paper memory left by my Mother but for some reason it scares me to do so…and I don't know why." He said he would be pissed at himself for not having the courage to look at the piece of paper due to his goal to become a shadow among the light, but for some reason he could hate himself. Was this what everyone felt like when they found a piece of history, lost from them in one way or another?

"Naruto, being afraid of a small piece of paper is nothing to worry about, in fact a lot of people who find something about their parents if they never knew them act like this instead of learning everything that the piece of information has to tell them." The wise man said. "But you still lied, maybe not intentionally but still lied to Iruka and myself. Now if you are still afraid to look at your Mother's last gift to you, spared from the flames, then find something else, see if the scroll has a new jutsu for you to learn, if not, go to the library, you know how you use Henge." He said.

"Maybe your right, but…from what I said earlier, five months ago, aren't you worried about me becoming a threat to Konoha?" he asked, he would still leave, and he would still instill the fear he wanted to do for so long now, but he was worried about why the old man would help him do so; maybe he was loosing his mind in due to old age?

"Sometimes, to grow truly strong Naruto, one or many must be put in dire situations. You will become strong and so will those who learn from you; though that is not why I aid you. I am merely helping you to reach your dream…for freedom right?" he asked Naruto.

"I guess." Naruto said as Sarutobi nodded.

"Good, then I suggest, since your Bunshin isn't that good anymore, or so I guess, I would look for a new Bunshin to learn." He told the boy who nodded. "And Naruto, don't be afraid to look at the paper left by your Mother, it will only help you, even in knowledge rather than strength." He said as Naruto nodded. "In that case, if you learn one more jutsu, I will see you in about eleven months for your test." He said as he waved towards the door. "Now get out, I have to met with annoying person." He said with a smile as Naruto nodded and left.

-

End flashback

-

'_Why does he want me to learn more? Why does he want me to become a possible threat to Konoha? Isn't it his job to make sure that all threats are neutralized?'_ Naruto thought as he walked down the road back to his apartment. He was going to have to think more about the words used by the Hokage, he stopped thinking about it for the moment as a torrent of rain unleashed its fury upon the village that tossed it aside for a passing storm; and ran off towards his dry house, he did not want to laid up with a cold this week.

-

Back with Sarutobi

-

"Are you sure that is alright to do this?" a man asked.

"Yes, it may look like I am aiding him but I am merely adding us, Konoha." Sarutobi said.

"He trusts you, doing this to him will end all relationships in the future with Konoha, even after you die, hell maybe even by his own hands." The man said again.

"Danzo, I know this, but what we can learn from such a young boy, even a Jinchuriki is still better than an old man learning how, and then dying. Stealing information from him about not only the scroll but his past is a great endeavor that we must achieve. I still must thank you for making that piece of paper so convincing; but I must ask how you knew what was inside." Sarutobi asked the one armed man.

"It took me a while, but while talking to the late Yondaime, I saw that piece of the scroll that his wife held and copied it. The woman was making dinner while the Yondaime was using the restroom, still I could have gotten more information about her other than being from Uzu, but that would have notified the two of them to my doings." Danzo said.

"Hmm, then we will just have to wait for answers later on then." Sarutobi said as he looked out his window and towards Naruto's apartment. "But if am to fall before this ends, make sure that either Jiraya or Tsunade is Hokage, they must not know of this plan, they both loved those two like their own, and Naruto will just fall into their hearts. However, they will be perfect pawns for our greater scheme Danzo…don't let him die by the council…at least not until he has found out the truth." Sarutobi said as he lit his pipe.

"Yes, Sarutobi-Kun." The other man said as he walked out of the room.

'_Yes Naruto, I do this for Konoha; to save from destruction; and as such you must live for a while longer, that is why I allow you all of these things; because you will strengthen Konoha.'_ The old ninja thought to himself, as he looked at the picture on his wall, the man who had succeeded after him looking at him with dull blue eyes. "And you were the one who made this all come true, the book and the weapon; thank you, Namikaze Minato."

END

* * *

Yes a twist for you to wrap your heads around. Things will go easy for Naruto for a while longer, and then they will take a turn or a few turns for the worst. 

On another note, I would like to say that I will not be updating _Uzumaki no Desu_ for a bit. It is a pilot chapter at the moment, and I will not update for a while, not that or anything for a bit mainly because I will be attaching my fingers to my Playstation 2 controller this week when I get Orochi Warriors; and then after I unlock Kunoichi and Goemon I will start on _JORN_ again.

Thanks for reading! Ja Ne!


	6. Chapter 6

The Kage Shinobi

* * *

Staring at the piece of paper in front of him, Naruto was in a state of shock. His Mother, most prominently from another country due to the fact that there had never been an Uzumaki clan in Konoha before her, and probably bastardized by his Father, so there was no information about him; but there was never a thought in his mind…that his Mother's jutsu, her last words to him…was a jutsu that he had been expecting to come from…the same scroll that was sitting in his apartment. This was the next step in his training…the _**Kage Suteppu**_. Said jutsu was also like trying to climb before one could stand, or at least in his position. He needed speed and a lot of it to accomplish this jutsu. 

Like the other jutsus, this one also had a time limit, although this one lasted for seven seconds, it was still helpful to get behind someone in combat and render them useless, or lifeless, what ever one came first. The most unfortunate part about this discovery, if it hadn't shown up in the scroll yet then he was probably too weak to learn it, although he hadn't checked on that for a month or two; either way, he had four months before his special test and then the gift of graduation…could he become fast enough or strong enough in time? The next four months were going to be hell trying to find out but even if he could not do it, maybe just maybe, the old man, no matter how weird he's become or could become, would let him pass.

He would have to start in the morning, it was too late now and the snow still had death grips for those who slept outside in the harshest of temperatures. Tonight was a night to rest and prepare for training in both speed and stamina like no other.

--

In the Hokage's Office

--

"Now that the second quarter is over at the academy…of these so far, whom do you expect to pass the exams?" The elderly Hokage asked a group of jonin.

"Well the Nara kid seems likely to pass…and if he and the Akamichi are buds then you can expect him to have a few secrets." A smoking man replied.

"Yes…Uchiha Sasuke as well, of course we where all expecting this from the start." A nameless man said from somewhere in the back.

"Indeed." A red eyed woman said. "However, it makes me sick that most of the girls in class are fawning over him instead of increasing their abilities as kunoichi. The only one who actually seems like training is Hinata."

"Yes, truly a said bunch of kunoichi, but they will have to do." Another said with a senbon needle in his mouth. "This years class is half kunoichi so we'll all get at least one, if not two."

"Yes, but then again, they might, and I stress to no end, _might_ get better before graduation; if they don't they may pass the academy test but they won't pass-" a sliver haired man started, but stopped as he noticed something. "I don't happen to see Uzumaki Naruto on this years list…did he pass last year?" he asked.

"_Sigh-_ no, he was as some of you know abducted by Mizuki, who suffered from a mental breakdown and tried to turn him into a walking bomb." Sarutobi started with a grave face. "Naruto, getting over the fact that young Shikamaru and Chouji had decided to end the weird friendship they had with him, Naruto decided to pull out of the academy to train on his own, he takes a harder test two days before the rest." Sarutobi stated as one ticked man decided to shoot a question off.

"Why the hell does he get a special test?" the man asked.

"Because reguardless of these," Sarutobi stated, handing a copy of Naruto's test results from the year before to the silver haired man. "He is very smart."

"I don't see how you could say that, he failed almost all of his written tests, and failed to complete his physical tests." The silver haired man stated.

"Well being treated like a training dummy for Mizuki will do that to a young boy Kakashi. He is smart, he just doesn't show it." Sarutobi started, inwardly smirking, he was planting the seeds that would sprout and take hold in their minds; it would only take time, vision to water the plant and the threat of the young Jinchuriki, and in turn, make their hatred push him further. In his mind, and the twisted mind of Danzo…Konoha deserved to be the best and only Shinobi nation in the world. And for as long as he was alive he was going to push for it.

"Now, you may all leave…actually, Kurenai wait for a moment." Sarutobi requested.

"Yes Hokage-Sama?" she asked as the others filed out of the room, Kakashi making sure that he gave back the papers.

"Naruto is training on a training field hidden by forest, it his own…I would like you to find out what he is doing…I may be the Hokage, but I have a meeting almost everyday now a days and I have to talk with the ambassador of Suna about a tax increase they instated on the glass that we import from them." He said as the woman nodded. "Thank you. I wish for you to just watch him, make sure he doesn't see you, or he will move to another area and then it will be hard to find him and make sure that nothing bad has happened to him." He said as the red eyed woman nodded again.

"Hai, Hokage-Sama." She said as she bowed, then turned at left.

'_And so the could starts to form.'_ The old ruler thought to himself as the nicely endowed woman left his office. "Nice ass."

"Exactly what I think Sarutobi-Dono." The voice of Danzo floated in to the room. Stepping from the shadows of the window directly behind him. "Of course one of my Roots members would have sufficed for this mission." Danzo said as he rounded in front of the large desk.

"Yes, but then again most Anbu and jonin are taught not to trust Roots members. And besides, she will start the trickle of water that the genin exams and later the chunin exams will use to sun and grow the plant of distrust. Koharu and Homura know that they, against the council of course, will allow him to pass and then he will be out of our hair and into our hands. He will find he renegades of the Uzumaki clan, and then we will either annihilate them or assimilate them into Konoha; Naruto after that point will no longer be any use to use, so either letting him go and wander the land or just killing him will be a choice to make then." The older man said with an evil grin.

'_That is what you think.'_ Thought the shadow like figurine who was lying between the floor boards above them, listening in on the whole conversation with intent, they slinked and wormed their way out of the flooring and out to outside world and then dropped to a small ledge and poofed away. Their lives depended on this information.

--

A few hours later, in Tea Country

--

"So this…Sarutobi is showing his true colors…your work with _**Kage Bunshin**_ is remarkable…however, it is not yet time to try to collect…watashi no **Magomusuko**."

"Yes…Master." The green haired figure said as they left. _'So…he truly is my Brother then…I guess my own plans will just have to come to fruition before Konoha's can take root, up heave and destroy his life.'_ The figure thought as they turned around to leave, showing a slight wiggle in their step. _'As your sibling…I must destroy you for your actions against Okaasan.'_

Somewhere in the early morning light of dawn, a certain blonde haired boy sneezed.

END

* * *

YAY! More plot twists! Hope you like them. Anyways, it is short but the chapters will get longer as the story runs its course so please be calm. The next chapter is the both the watching of Naruto by Kurenai and then a time skip to graduation; there on out the chapters should be longer as they will easier to write. 

Watashi no – means – My

Magomusuko – means – Grandson

Kage Suteppu – means – Shadow Step, and you will find out more information about it later one.

Anyways, I hope you like the chapter no matter how short. And thanks to those who reviewed.

Ja Ne, Death's Spear.


	7. Chapter 7

The Kage Shinobi

* * *

She sighed; it was a boring task that she had undertaken that it was. Here red eyes started to droop with boredom and then a bored sleepy gaze as she watched the blonde pre-teen train. So far in the last _two_ days he had done nothing but train physically, he had not once generated any form of jutsu that she herself didn't already know, Henge and Kawarimi. Although it was boring to watch, she had to agree with Hokage-Sama's words, those pile of papers stating that the boy was dumb clearly were written up with false pretences…he was pretty smart, and if she wasn't under a genjutsu to hide herself from the boy…she was sure that he would have found her already.

Naruto, finishing up his last bit of exercising, he had bought a pair of leg weights two days ago and started to adjust with them before he went out for a 'light' jog; said jog was about a mile long. Starting out, Naruto had put five pounds on each leg just to see how much drag it would be, and soon found out that he needed less weight as it took a lot more energy out of him than he thought it would. So in place of five pounds on each leg, he had two and a half. If he was successful in completing his tasks without feeling like a pile of rocks, he was going to go jogging, to start his speed training.

An hour later and Naruto felt ready to jog. Picking up his equipment and stashing it in a bag, in which he laid a string to a balloon of paint high up in the trees, to mark anyone that tried to steal or look at his stuff, he started off to is make shift jogging route, which curved and twisted through the forest, marked only by small white strips of cloth.

As soon as her target bolted for the woods, Kurenai, not seeing the balloon high in the trees, hidden due to its leaf green coloring; jumped down to see what she could find. Normally after her target had left the area he wouldn't leave his stuff, except for the chains, and she could see why he wouldn't tear those down everyday; so this was a prime time to look through her target's belongings.

Jumping to the ground and looking around for any traps, Kurenai walked carefully over to the bag and stared at it for a while. Finally after a minute or two, she started to tinker with it…breaking the string that held the balloon. She almost missed it falling on her.

'_To think that he would just leave his bag here…why should I wait for him to use a jutsu when I can just copy his jutsu and then leave?'_ the raven haired woman thought as she plucked the string from the tie rod, where the two flaps where held together. However by doing so, she broke the invisible or almost invisible string and started the decent of the paint bomb upon her position. _'I don't see any scrolls…just a small stack of paper…maybe deeper in?'_ Kurenai thought as she went to move another small stack of papers, without bothering to look at them…noticed a growing shadow upon her arms, which where out stretched in front of her…she looked up to find a green orb falling on her…she pulled her hands out and rolled out of the way, only milliseconds before the orb smashed into and burst all over the ground, sending black smelling paint all over…the stench was horrible.

She looked herself over to make sure she didn't receive a blob of paint from the bomb and found that she had a few upon her scroll covered clothes…she would have to wash them and soon. Looking at the pack she thought momentarily about digging further when the smell over rid her senses and she heaved her processed food into her mouth. She held it in and tried not to gag when she swallowed it, to hid her presence; as it stood now, the trap could have been triggered by a small animal like Tora…but if she hurled her or any where around she would jeopardize her mission even more. She jumped away, not bothering to close the bag; she couldn't stand the smell or the taste of her vomit anymore. She would be back, and prepared.

-

About ten minutes later, Naruto, who had almost finished his lap, came upon a foul smell…but a memorable smell…he made it. Something or some_one_ had sprung his trap. He didn't even bother marking his time, he went towards the area with a hand over his nose, pinching it shut and breathing through his mouth, so he didn't have to smell as much of the rank stink.

It could have been an animal, maybe a squirrel or a chipmunk but there were some problems with that. First was the fact that there were no spots where the paint lay, there were no foot prints leading away from it either. Second, his bag had been rummaged through, but not like an animal; where an animal would have tore out a bunch of things looking for food, the mess that was in his bag was mainly limited. Some_one_ had been here…meaning someone was spying on him. He would have to train harder or in the dead of night; like he had a while ago…he opted for the later. He let himself smile for a moment, who ever had set that nasty trap of his off…was sure to be sick for a while…the smell lingered. He stopped smiling as he thought of what he was thinking to himself earlier.

-

Flashback

-

'_I said that I would become a monster and yet he lets me train…I said I would leave the village and yet he gives me power…there is something wrong with this whole thing. Kage are supposed to protect their homelands…not put them in danger…but why is Jiji doing this? Can I trust him?'_ Naruto thought as he rounded a smooth corner of trees and underbrush. _'Maybe I should test him? Him, his intentions and his honor?'_ Naruto thought as picked up the pace a bit.

-

End Flashback

-

"A test…but what?" Naruto breathed out as he picked his bag up and left…he kept his right hand pinching his nose shut…he would also have to find another bag and soon…good thing he didn't have too many important things in his bag; mostly paper for any ideas that sprang to though in his mind.

--

With Kurenai

--

"Come one Kurenai-Chan!" A loud mouthed and voiced purple haired woman said, banging on the door. "Open up!"

Muffled thumps and bangs came from the inside of Kurenai's apartment as she staggered to the door…she wondered about a few things as she did. _'Why did I take this stupid task? Why does Hokage-Sama want to know about a kid like that anyways? Sure he's strong and smart, but then again life has a way of teaching that to you…no matter it be an animal, human or demon.'_ Another set of loud bangs and shouts from the other side of the door and she began to think of another thought; _'And why did I become her friend again?'_ she asked herself. Reaching for the door handle, she unlocked it, and the chain and dead bolt and opened the door and immediately regretted in doing so...she was glomped by Anko then pulled into one of her fake kisses…of course Anko being Anko…no one knew if it was fake or real.

"Oh God!" the purple haired woman said as she entered the apartment and shut the door behind her, also spitting the nasty flavor of barf out as well. "I came to further our relationship and you decided to get sick!" the jonin said with her eyes filling with fake tears. "And I even brought sake!"

"It's not my fault Anko…I can't decide when I get sick or not." Which proved to be the wrong thing to say to the emotionally disturbed woman as she was pushed away by her loopy friend and glared at.

"So…who's the father?" was the question, which made Kurenai want to barf even more. "If its Kakashi then the next time I see him, I'm going to give him a nut buster!" it wasn't a joke either.

"Nothing like that!" the red eyed woman said as she walked or rather staggered back to her couch. "I was accomplishing a mission today when I was almost hit by a trap." She started to tell a bit about her mission or rather, the experience.

"So, that inst a good reason to get knocked up." The purple haired woman joked. "But seriously…your sick because you got caught or almost caught by a trap?" geez, what a week friend she had…why was she friends with her again? Oh yeah, she was nice to her, fun to hang with and a great tease partner with when it came to sleazy guys like Kakashi.

"I got away but it wasn't like anything I have smelt before in my life!" Kurenai started as her face began to turn green. "It was disgusting, I swear, I'd rather been hit by a kunai or two than smell that gunk again…_bleach!"_ she finished as she tried to keep what fluids and whatnot down.

"Really…because I don't think I buy that." Anko said with a frown. Was her friend trying to leave her as well?

"There's a bit of it dried to my outfit…I think that it may still hold a whiff or two if you want to find out for yourself." Kurenai said flatly.

"Fine, fine." Anko said as she held her nose up high. "Tell me where it is and I'll see if it is worth getting sick over." She said as Kurenai pointed towards the bathroom, in which Anko promptly went over to smell it. A minute later and she came back trying to flush the smell out with a tissue. "Damn that reeks and you say it was worse when it was fresh?" the purple haired kunoichi asked as her friend nodded. "GAWD! That's on way to scare people off, that's for sure."

"True, but I failed my mission…Hokage-Sama is transferring me to another assignment as soon as I stop vomiting." Kurenai said with a sigh. It was hard for her to accept defeat, but she never wanted to smell that shit again…and the only way to do that was avoid her now ex-target.

"Well then…" Anko started as she dug out a cup from her friend's cupboard. "There's only one thing to do at a moment like this…and that is to get DRUNK!" Somehow Kurenai thought that drinking would just make it worse…and she wasn't thinking about the smell, a drunken Anko was a mega disaster lying in wait.

--

Two days had past and Naruto's bag had been left alone; so as not to waste anymore time watching from the bushes, Naruto went back to his training. For the next two weeks he would solely focus on getting faster and then he would go back to his old routine and find a way to fit the speed training in as well. From two and a half pounds to five on each leg, Naruto changed the weight every week, and slowly started to feel faster than before. However, he was not as ready as he wanted. From running a mile in under ten minutes to nine, Naruto trained as hard as he did before he found his clan's heritage.

With only three and a half months to go, Naruto wasn't going to fool around anymore. His social skills went from almost zero to a slim one above for the next and last few months, only talking when he absolutely needed to. Even though he set traps up and took them down each night, which was beginning to become like a second skill to him besides his increasing stealth, which came with speed; he never had his traps sprung again. Maybe it was an animal…or maybe the smell told all to stay away? It didn't matter…he was becoming faster, stronger, stealthier…deadlier and most of all…more like he stated he would at the beginning of this last academic year…a monster that hides in the shadows of those who walk in the light.

Finally, a week before the test, or rather, his test, was due and two days before he had to report to Jiji…Naruto decided it was time to see if he could do the last jutsu…or rather, the last one he had available to him at the time.

Keeping his weights on, Naruto sat in meditation and gathered his chakra…went over the correct hand seals, after ten minutes of nothing but doing so, he stood up and prepared himself…both physically and mentally.

Stating the lines in his mind, to go along with the seals necessary for the jutsu, Naruto spoke softly and clearly…_** "Kage-po"**_ nothing happened. Was the jutsu a dud? Was all his speed training all for naught? Even if it wasn't, if he didn't say that he knew three, he wouldn't be able to pass…and some how Jiji knew when he lied. Huffing slightly he tried it again, this time taking a step along with saying the name…this time something happened. Pain. His body was wracked with pain, as if he had jumped from an eight foot drop and landed on his chest and stomach…but that didn't stop him. He tried and tried again, and all of his tries just induced more pain…until…

"_**Kage-po"**_ Naruto painfully uttered. Instead of just pain, he felt movement as well. He opened his closed eyes, he had them closed due to the pain, and found a small shimmer of black shadowy like substance around him. He took a step but nothing happened. Then he decided to run a short bit, seeing if that was what it needed…and it did. Instead of finding himself a few paces away, he found himself almost ten feet away…then the shadowy like substance, which must have been chakra…dispersed. He let himself smile again.

--

Two days before the exam and Naruto had already gotten the Kage-po down to a basic usage jutsu, or in other words, he used it as much as he could through the pain. He had tried to use Kage no Tanpa with it, as if he was being chased, but all that did was either trip him up and fall and skin his face against the ground, or just send him into a world of hurt from his body speeding up and then slowing down instantly, he felt as if his brain was trying to squeeze through his skull. However, using Kage no Yaiba was another matter. A fun one at that. Since he had gotten used to using the Kage no Yaiba so much, he had cracked a hidden code in the un written Shinobi codex…allowing him to skip a few seals but still manage to make the blade of the shadows mold on his hand. Speeding around for about five or six seconds slashing things to pieces was getting fun…maybe it was time to see just how much he could scare the villagers before he became their seeing eye dog? Naruto smirked a smirk that if it could be colored, it would have been dark gray.

-

It was a fairly cold night; a lone chunin by the name of Taro walked the lonely streets. It was a rarity that one would find such a night in the Red Lights district, however small it was. He had come down to see if he could get some late night action before his low B-Rank mission to Suna for peace talks in the morning but found that they were all closed for one reason or another. So with tears in his eyes and a slow hobble in his step he walked down the streets of Konohagakure's Red Lights district. Now most Red Lights districts in many towns and cities will always have trouble brewing somewhere beneath its red lights, stories of monsters who looked like humans but were actually lesser demons, only wanting blood and sex, and tonight, poor chunin Taro was going be a victim of a monster, but like non of which any had seen before.

-

Naruto looked around, for some reason the whole of the Red Lights district was dead, even the hobos and the pedophiles were gone for some reason…oh well it didn't matter, he wanted to freak someone, because after, all…there was that little nagging voice in the back of his mind that said…_ 'Uzumaki Naruto never goes back on his word!'_ and true to his memory, he wasn't going to go back on his word. Although he didn't know it, Sarutobi, the Sandiame-Hokage wasn't the only one planting seeds in this peon filled, idiotic village…he was…of fear and distrust of the power that Konohagakure had…once had.

Finally after waiting for while, he saw him…his target. A chunin if he read the green vest right; and the only one on the road. He could almost like his lips in anticipation…this was one of the last nights to plant, to plant the seeds of distrust and fear…just as someone else was trying to do so as he breathed. Dressed in black, all black, not another color shown through his disguise, his hair underneath a black cap and folded up so the spikes wouldn't make their appearance during his fun. Finally, he brought his hands to his front side, and started hand seals…this was not only planting time…but it was his own _test_.

As quiet as a sleeping babe…he opened his mouth, behind his mask and outfit…_** "Kage-po."**_

--

Two days later

--

"I see…well then, I guess it was a good thing that Naruto trained by himself then huh?" Kakashi asked as he looked over the sheets of paper in front of him. "I am surprised…just _one_ short of a whole class…too bad too." The silver haired man said as handed the paper back to Sarutobi. "I guess you'll be wanting to stick him on my squad with Sasuke-Kun, right?"

"No…Naruto hasn't passed the exam yet, but he will…I have no doubt in my mind about that." The rumors of a young nineteen year old chunin, Taro being attacked by a mysterious figure two nights back seemed to be a new children's tale but with the way it had spread…and in only two nights too; he knew that Naruto had done it…he had opened the scroll and learned its secrets…he couldn't help but smile. "But he will not be with your squad…no, you will take Kiba instead." The look on Kakashi's face was priceless. It was slightly angered but still fearful. "He is too smart for you to handle Kakashi, and I do mean that in a way that you have never seen before…instead, Asuma will handle him…he has had to deal with many things when it comes to kids…he has one of his own who is a sneak you know." The old Kage said, trying to calm the jonin down.

"Too smart for me? In what way?" the jonin asked hotly.

"He beat a chunin with little to no effort, albeit the opponent was insane…he harbored anger and rage against him but still kept cool…he has the makings of not only a strong Shinobi…but also that of a strategist…and a mastermind as young as his needs to be under the care of another mastermind." His son, although didn't seem like the smartest around he was still one of the best masterminds in the ways of strategy Konoha had besides Shikamaru's father; Nara Shikato. "Just like you and Sasuke…both of you have the Sharringan even if yours is implanted…besides, Sasuke is an emotional enigma, having Naruto suddenly placed on his team could send him off the deep end." Kakashi's face calmed a bit. He was right…Sasuke was an enigma and Naruto would tip the power scale just so…Asuma could handle the blonde Jinchuriki…as he would try to tame the beast 'Envious Copying'.

"Your team will be pronounced tonight at seven, and if you are late…no more porn on missions…no, when you have no missions." Sarutobi said as Kakashi swallowed hard. He loved his porn…and for its sake…he would be on time. As he walked out…something didn't seem to sit right with what he just heard…but for now all he could think about…was reading as much porn as he could. _'Jiraya made porn, and I love it! Jiraya made porn, and I love it! Jiraya made porn and I love iiii-hiiii-hiiii-hiiii-iiiitttt!!!'_ he hummed as he ignored his stomach's distrust of the situation. _'Hey wait a minute; did I just let him call me stupid without fighting back?'_ Kakashi thought after a moment…then shrugged, _'Whatever, as long as I have me porn I don't care! Time to go and tug me horn!'_

--

A few hours later

--

"Well Naruto, I see you've come back, I take it that you've learned that last jutsu then?" Sarutobi asked with a knowing smile. "I'd say that your work is an answer in itself…but please, don't attack anyone else?" he asked with a hard frown.

'_So…he knows that some how it was me. Hopefully he doesn't know which three jutsu I used.'_ Naruto thought to himself as he nodded. "I only did it to see if I was good enough to take on a chunin…or at least one who wasn't insane." He responded.

"So…what three jutsu did you learn?" Sarutobi asked with a smile, he would bet his life that the boy would say that it was none of his business or there around.

"Why should I tell you?" _'Bingo!'_

"Because, I am the Hokage." Sarutobi stated with a smile, one that didn't make Naruto feel any better.

"But won't you find out from my Jonin sensei in a few days?" Naruto asked, much to Sarutobi's glee.

"Yes…but I need to make sure you can pass the test." Sarutobi said.

"I can no longer use Bunshin, my chakra levels have passed beyond that simple technique. I can use Kawarimi till the Hyuuga throw their destiny complex away and I can Henge into different objects, including naked women…to throw off perverted people." Naruto said as Sarutobi smirked.

"Fine…but you knew all of these when you left the academy…so I think that it is time for you to take a real test…follow me." The old man said as he stood up and started to walk out of his office, Naruto slowly complying.

-

"This is it Naruto-Kun…inside this chamber is a special object I want you to return to me. This will put your skills to the test and show me if you are good enough to become a genin." Sarutobi said as he stood in front of a large, and round chamber, that rose almost thirty feet into the air and was the size of the first floor of the Hokage Tower. "Oh and…the target is three floors down; I hope you can make it within two hours Naruto-Kun." Sarutobi smiled. Naruto nodded and stepped inside the chamber doors, as soon as he past the edge of the door, Sarutobi shut it and locked it from the outside.

'_I could have put cameras in there to mark his improvements and steal his jutsu, but it will be more beneficial to wait, after all…I want _ALL_ of the Uzumaki clans jutsu!'_ the old man smirked to himself as he walked off. He would be back in two hours; after all, it took a squad of chunin almost that same amount of time just to find their way out; looking for an object was going to be impossible.

-

As the door shut, Naruto got a good look inside the dome. It was disturbing. Was this a new area within Konoha? Or was it simply hidden by genjutsu? Whatever it was, from the way it smelt he knew it was dangerous. The ceiling, which you could barely see, was adorned with spouts of fire, some of them worked like clock work while the others fried off random blasts, random and large; he swore that the place heated up another few degrees, which was bad since he already felt like a fat man in a candy store with only enough money for one piece of candy. He had less than two hours to find whatever the special item was…and the only hint he had was that it was three floors down.

'_Right then, the first thing to do is find the starting point, I can guarantee that it's a giant smelly maze…the good thing is that the top is freely accessible for now.'_ Naruto thought as he jumped up the large wall in front of him to get a glimpse of what he was dealing with, other than a maze. If he was a lesser child, he would have pissed himself. The first thing he saw was the end to the first level…right behind six or more padded stone poles, each one must have been almost five feet in radius, they were slamming against the other side of the wall, but yet somehow making little noise. If that wasn't the only thing on the first level he'd be amazed.

'_Okay, judging on how the maze layout goes, it goes down, and I'd say that there are drop off points in some dead ends, a few under hidden floors and a few activated by switches half way across the board. Truly this is one hell of a place to train.'_ Naruto thought as he started running atop the maze walls, making sure to stop every few yards to make sure he hadn't fallen into a trap or was going the wrong direction.

As he ran atop, and while he wasn't looking out for himself, he couldn't help but gaze at the floors, there were pits with eight foot drops under boards, only visible by a small hole that could be seen only from the maze wall. Some places had holes where he was certain, be it a real test he'd have to fend off waves of kunai and arrows. Jumping over a small gap between the walls as he ran, he didn't notice the lines of clear thread, that only when they had light shown upon them did they make their presence known, that his foot had just snapped. The lights all went out. The flames only staying light for a half second before they too shut off. It was now pitch black.

Getting off the walls and jumping to the floor, Naruto guided himself along the insides of the wall, staying more towards the middle rather to one side or the other at times, afraid of setting off ranged attacks. As he walking, he heard a noise from the other end of the maze, it sounded like the firing of arrows, and the slight grunting noise of a human, but it was low, so trying to get a better listen as he walked was hard to do, especially since he just set off one of the very same traps. Quickly taking a kunai out of his pouch, Naruto started to block the arrows that came from his right, good thing training in the woods had honed his senses well in the last few months. Feeling the sting of a arrow that grazed his left leg, Naruto knew it was not going to end as long as he had his foot depressed on the switch, so he moved forwards, and onto a fake piece of tile that gave way almost as soon as he steadied himself to move again. Jumping off the falling piece of tile, Naruto found his way onto solid ground again…for now. He sped up his search for the third level, looking for a way to get down faster.

-

The wound on his leg, though healed by the time he came to what he had seen briefly only moments before where now not only covered in a veil of darkness, but also just as quiet as he had heard them before, was joined by a few others, some still bleeding and others healing just the same. When he went to take a step forward, he felt his right foot depress another trap stone. This time expecting a fury of dart like weapons flying at him, he got light…and then no light, and then light again. It seemed like every flash was only a millisecond long, and the affect was sickening. His stomach felt tight and heavy and his head felt like there was nothing in it. His hearing started to wane and his vision started to fog.

Head fogged to no end, and gut trying to stay itself and its contents, Naruto decided to race through the pile drivers with full speed. As a flash of light lit the area for a brief moment, he saw something strange…well two things. One was a figure at the stairs that went down, looking as if they were waiting for him, and the other was the fact that the pile drivers seemed to be punching in rhythm now. From earlier when he looked out over top the maze walls when one would pound the opposite wall, and the other would start followed by the next one on the same plan of movement as the first one. They were now breaking in speed by about a second or two, making the predictability even harder than before…and the blinking lights of flame didn't help either.

Time was ticking and he had to move…NOW! Lunging at full speed, and trying to move straight as he could, he felt the giant monsters of stone and woods mashing the walls behind him. One…two…three…four…five…six_ srift!_ Oh shit! As soon as he passed the last beam of stone and wood he stepped on yet another hidden trap…activating…the lights and flame jets…instead of blinking they quelled and stopped for a moment…and then the ceiling light up like the night of the Kyuubi attack would only look like…lines of fire shot out all over the ceiling, lighting up the area in a musky red hue. The figure at the other side was gone…maybe they were never really there. Maybe he was just seeing things? He stopped and checked his watch, which now told him he had less than an hour and fifteen minutes to go. He had about five minutes to spare, to quell the storm in his mind and his gut…before he bolted again, with only the 'sky' of flame to show him the way.

Up on the ceiling, hiding in the light of the flames that circled the figure that Naruto had seen only a few moments earlier…was the figure with green hair, and underneath the mask they wore, was a scowl.

--

With Sarutobi

--

"Sir, the boy has reached the item, the warning has just shot up." A nameless man said as he looked at the old man in his chair, reading an orange book.

"Good, then see to it that a medic squad gets to the location…in the next hour…" the man breathed as the messenger bowed with a 'Hai' and left to do his new task. _'After the first floor it is a smooth ride all the way down…but the return trip is riddled with spikes, floating traps, and slick ramps…and that is just the third floor's first task. With the jutsu we've piled from Ame in the past wars, we now have enough water to sink the bottom two floors. Oh, and the fake bottom on most of floor two, where he will learn that the prize in his hands is not the real one. He will then have to make a wise choice, to be stupid and swim almost one hundred feet below the surface, or will he simply run for his life? I can't have my one way to finding the secrets of the Uzumaki clan gone before I obtain the information from him. However, this is going to be a grand new chunin examination room.'_ "Hehe…hehehe…Hehehehe, HAHAHAHAHAHA! AAAHHHAHAHAHAHA!!!" he laughed insanely as he flipped the page in his book, smiling all the time.

--

As Naruto finally got to the second floor, he felt like barfing, the race through traps such as arrows, this time flaming and non, clouds of sleeping or other kinds of toxins raced from pipes and chutes in the ground, slime and muck slicks and not too mention the occasional eruption of _blue_ flame, which had to have been hot considering he turned around to look at the rising water, oh yes, the third floor seemed to be a nice fourth, and it even had a small black and red treasure box in the middle too…that the grating sounds of steal, rock and water almost made him cry; the flames almost melted the stone it was near. Anyways the floor shot open, and he slipped, dropping the box into the waters that where still rising below him, never stopping.

'_Fuck this shit! I am not going to drown for a damned box! This, a genin exam?! HA! And I am really a god in disguise!'_ Naruto thought to himself as he grabbed hold of the floor and pulled himself up to the second floors last ten feet of tile. He got on his burning feet, his legs like jell-o and his head as light a feather, and hightailed it to the first floor…as the rushing waters, which where almost as fast as he was, stopped only inches above the floor line, washing over his toes.

Looking at his watch, Naruto found that he only had a few minutes left…about ten, when a kunai sped past his head, and sunk into the floor under the water. He looked up to see a green haired person falling upon him with sword drawn. Naruto rolled from his current location and tried to kick out at the person trying to skewer him, but missed as they jumped backwards and started to make hand seals. Instantly the blade, which was a nice silver color, was incased in pitch black energy, much like his hand when he used the Kage no Yaiba. Wasting no time in attacking, the green haired attacker did just that, and rushed him with great speed. Naruto, tired of running and barely missing traps along the ways down and up the maze of death, took out a kunai and tried to block, only to find the blade go through the kunai and slash his right bicep, making his teeter in pain.

"Weakling…to think…you are my…and Okasan gave…to you. Weakling…we will fight again…" as Naruto was about to speak, the figure, whose voice was hidden with a device to make it deep and dark, used a familiar jutsu…_** "Kage-po."**_ and although the person's voice as distorted, they spoke softly as the sped away from the current location.

He had no time to think at the moment, he needed to run, but he would most definitely have to find out just what his attacker said to him…some many things had taken their toll on him he was tired and feeling sick…but he could not afford to fail…reaching into his reserves, Naruto pulled enough chakra for one last thing…

Passing the now nonmoving pile drivers and onto the maze wall, he started to run, and said the name of the jutsu that would save him at this time. _**"Kage-po."**_ Since he was running already, as fast as he could move, which was about twenty miles an hour, still with weights on, he felt himself shake and speed up as he ran. From a speed where he cleared ten feet in a few seconds, he was now moving at a rate where he was clearing about fifty feet per second. Feeling the affects wearing thin, he jumped as far and high as he could, consequences be damned, he'd rather break a bone at this point then not pass…so now in the air, going at an unreadable speed, he was now flying, or rather gliding…until he landed, at the same speed on his feet, only meters away from the door. He tried to stop…but he couldn't slow down enough in the short amount of time…and smashed into the door…moments before it opened to the outside world, in front of the medic team and Sarutobi who hadn't put the key into the slot yet.

"Congratulations Naruto-Kun…you passed." The Sandiame said with a smile. "You three get him cleaned up and healed up; he will be meeting his class tomorrow." Sarutobi said with a hard expression that asked for no defiance. The three medic nin nodded and totted the boy to the hospital…all the while accomplishing what Kurenai couldn't months before. Sarutobi smiled.

--

Hours later, Seven P.M.

--

"So he passed huh?" Kakashi asked, amazingly there on time…well not really, his porn had been threatened if he didn't come on time.

"Yes…now here are you team assignments." Sarutobi started as he stood up. "Kakashi…Uchiha Sasuke, Inuzuka Kiba, and Haruno Sakura." Kakashi didn't say a thing. He knew earlier that he wasn't getting Naruto, but Kiba? That was worse than having his porn burnt.

"Kurenai will handle…Hyuuga Hinata, Aburame Shino and Nara Shikamaru." Asuma's face fell…he knew he was getting the blonde but Shikamaru was supposed to be his new shogi partner.

"And Asuma will handle Akamichi Chouji, Yamanaka Ino, and Uzumaki Naruto." Sarutobi said as he tossed the files on his desk. "You are all dismissed but Kurenai." The other two nodded and left.

As soon as the door shut Sarutobi sat back down, and pointed for the red eyed woman to do the same. "Sir?" she asked as Sarutobi sighed.

"I was wrong to berate you Kurenai…it seems that there was another reason why you couldn't spy upon Naruto and his training routine…he is extremely strong and fast for someone his age…I had him run the Gauntlet of Sinking Souls today…no traps other than the water and the pile drivers…he beat it in just under two hours." Kurenai felt like fainting. "So for that…I hereby apologize to you for berating you for failing your mission." Sarutobi said as he started to file his stacks of paper, signifying that he was done talking.

"If I may Hokage-Sama, why Shikamaru on my squad and not Kiba?" the red eyed beauty asked.

"_Sigh"_ Sarutobi started. "Because he is a spy unit, he can sniff out targets and trouble from afar, which is just what Kakashi's team needs. Sasuke may be strong but his mind in filled with anger and hate; he thinks he doesn't need any help at all. So I have set teams up differently this year…for ages we have had the best with the worst and added the middle or average genin in the middle to even things out…well just look at our village now. It makes me sad at how long it took me to figure this out too. So instead of strong with weak, every team will have one member who is strong in attacking from short range, and up close combat, one with medium range combat and jutsu and the last member to aid by either healing or long range, this also includes brains and jutsu. And as such…all three teams have been made so." Sarutobi said with a tone that grated out, 'And that's final.'

"Do you understand why?" he asked as Kurenai nodded. "Good, then if you don't mind, please leave, I need to do some Hokage matters." He said with a smirk. She raised an eyebrow when he pulled out a stack of papers almost a foot tall. She nodded and left. As soon as the door shut again Sarutobi chuckled to himself.

--

Hospital

--

"Yeah he ran the Gauntlet of Sinking Souls today, with _every_ trap on! I knew he was a monster!" a medic said to another who agreed without hesitation. Unbeknownst to them, Naruto lay in bed with his eyes half open listening to everything.

"You think that Hokage-Sama is just trying to kill him in private?" he heard another ask.

"Nah, he's probably trying to get him to break and go crazy like Mizuki." The first one said.

"I bet he's also the one who put Taro in here the other night too!" the second one said as Naruto narrowed his eyes. So he was right, the Hokage was playing some kind of game with him as one of the primary pieces.

'_I wonder if that assassin was ordered by him to get rid of me as well?'_ Naruto wondered as he started to drift asleep. _'If that is so…I can't trust anyone especially not Jig-no Hokage-_Sama_…and neither should anyone else.'_ Naruto thought as he lay in bed, his eyes now shut to the world. It was time to really freak the village…well soon…first he needed Bunshin.

End

* * *

Alright, one of my longest chapters in…well a long time; about 6,834 words, and two days of sitting on me tush…which is asleep now, I hope your all happy for making me arse fall asleep!

I have some things to say…firstly, I may not be able to writer or at least, post for a while thanks to some hidden underground broken water pipes. If you go to my profile it states that we, my mother and her church, will have to pay as much $2,000 or more a month, due to the fact that the water company was and is an ass and wouldn't come see as to why we are using over **901,536** or somewhere along that line, gallons of water in the last 2 months. That is impossible! So if we end up having to pay for it I may lose my internet for a while…or water, either way…

I am starting to write a new fic as well, and have been working on it for about two weeks, in which it only has one chapter, not finished and is already about 3,081 words. I am still working on my others, its just that I could not shut it away anymore; it is a Naruto/Gundam Seed/Destiny crossover, and no I didn't take the idea from anyone but one person who reviewed a story early on this or late last year, who helped me with the plot.

For anyone who cares, it is a Naruto/Natarle/? pairing. That's right, Naruto and the tomboy Ensign of the Archangle, for some reason I like her, and with the way my story goes in the beginning I think that Naruto and her make a good couple, at least for as long as she is alive.

Anyways, thanks for reading and review if you feel like it. Good or bad I don't really care at the moment, but either way, thanks for reading.


End file.
